Making Climate and Environment Policies for & with Children and Young People

This interim discussion paper demonstrates a gap in child sensitivity of climate policies, explains the importance of including the needs and priorities of children and young people in policies and plans to benefit the whole of society, identifies best practices, and provides guidance for policymakers on how to meaningfully partner with children and young people as climate and environmental champions for a sustainable response. The paper analyzed 103 new or updated 2020-2021 NDCs based on the criteria of the country being one of the 157 with UNICEF programmes, a country that has signed the Paris Agreement, and with NDCs submitted by Oct. 21, 2021. The paper will be updated after all remaining NDCs are submitted. It presents 47 indicators for analysis of reference to children and young people in the NDC under the categories of references, rights-based, holistic and multisectoral and inclusive.